COUNTY Labour chief Robin Lunn has hit out at plans to cut 60 per cent from the budget of Worcestershire’s Archive and Archaeology Service.
The service, which cares for all the county’s historic documents and keeps the past alive through archaeological digs, is facing losing £405,000 from its £751,000 budget as part of cuts by cash-strapped county council chiefs.
The service currently employs 25 people but the future of many would be in doubt if the cuts went through.
“This department has won awards for being one of the best archive service in the country, so how have they arrived at this figure?” said Coun Lunn.
The Labour group has now tabled a motion for the next full council meeting on Thursday (January 17) calling on the service to be protected.
“We think the service can be saved; what they are proposing is short sighted and once it is gone it will never come back,” said Coun Lunn.
“The demands of paying for adult social care and children’s services are like two rocks squeezing everything else in the middle.
“I’m desperately hoping that the Tory leadership will show some common-sense and give it another year so we can find a solution.”
In response, Coun Lucy Hodgson, cabinet member for communities, said: “We are proposing to make savings of £400,000 from the Archive and Archaeology Service as part of the wider savings that the council needs to make in the coming years.
“The detail around this is yet to be decided.
“We’ll be consulting with staff who work in the service this month before the final budget is set in February.”
